West Pottsgrove pool to remain closed this summer

The township-owned West Pottsgrove Community Pool will remain closed for the 2017 season, officials announced Wednesday.

Township commissioners had set a February deadline to find a contractor to run the pool, with the caveat that the township would not pay a fixed rate to the contractor."It saddens, I believe all of us, that the pool will not be open this year," board president Steve Miller said at a township meeting.Commissioner Pete LaRosa, who led the search for a contractor, called it a "herculean effort," but said the board was unable to find a company that would operate the pool under those terms."Companies were interested in managing our pool but not in being a partner," LaRosa said. "There's no one more disappointed than myself."The pool's status has been in flux in recent years, culminating most recently in the previous manager, Bennington Pool Services, suddenly closing the pool last July, saying that keeping it open was no longer financially viable.LaRosa said the board will continue to look at alternative funding sources, including sponsorship opportunities, in hopes of re-opening the pool in 2018 at no cost to the township.The board re-established a search committee, and Miller also requested that township residents provide input into how the pool could reopen next year.In other business, the commissioners gave their blessing to a company that approached them in late January about pursuing a license to construct a marijuana growing facility in West Pottsgrove.The board voted unanimously to provide Holistic Industries of Pennsylvania in Haverford, Delaware County, a letter of support for its application to build a 100,000-square-foot growing facility on 22 acres at the former Stanely G. Flagg Co. site off West High Street.The company had requested a decision in time to prepare an application by the state's March 20 deadline. Only two licenses will be granted to growing facilities in the 11-county region that makes up southeastern Pennsylvania, including Montgomery, Chester and Berks counties.Contact Matt Carey: 610-371-5038 or mcarey@readingeagle.com.